The public furor only intensified after law enforcement authorities determined that the first group of anthrax-laced letters had been posted from a mailbox in New Jersey on September 18, 2011-just a week after the 9/11 attacks.Ī second bunch of letters had been mailed on October 9. The FBI launched an investigation, and by early November had found three of the letters containing anthrax spores, including ones sent to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle in Washington, D.C., and The New York Post and NBC in New York City. “But as more information came out.it became clear that there had been some conscious, deliberate release of anthrax.” “The first day or two following that announcement were words of denial that this would have been related to any terrorism event, but it was somehow a freak outbreak of some sort,” says Leonard Cole, an expert on bioterrorism and terror medicine and author of The Anthrax Letters. The lethal spores arrived via a series of letters mailed to locations in four states (Florida, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) and Washington, D.C., spreading a new wave of panic across a nation already reeling from the terrorist attacks of 9/11 just weeks earlier.Īfter anthrax was discovered at Stevens’ workplace, American Media, and two more of his colleagues of his were found to have been exposed, state authorities in Florida (including the state’s then-governor, Jeb Bush) initially tried to calm the public down by insisting there was no terror link. Over the next two months, Stevens and four other people would die after inhaling anthrax, and 17 others would be infected, either by inhaling anthrax or getting it on their skin. Lab tests confirmed it, and on October 4 Stevens was diagnosed with inhalation anthrax, a bacterial disease primarily found in livestock that the Center for Disease Control (CDC) had recognized as a potential agent of bioterrorism. The emergency room doctors thought the 62-year-old photojournalist might be suffering from meningitis.īut when an infectious disease specialist looked at Stevens’ spinal fluid under a microscope, he realized there was another, terrifying possibility. Stream The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 on Netflix.A corporate mailroom employee uses gloves while sifting through letters Octoin New York City after reports of anthrax in the mail.įeverish and delirious, Bob Stevens arrived at a Florida hospital in the early morning hours of October 2, 2001. If you are interested in checking out The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 after reading this, it's available streaming for those with a Netflix subscription. The documentary also touches on death and suicide. No one goes on any long-winded expletive-laden rants, but there are some choice words throughout the 95-minute runtime. The Anthrax Attacks: In The Shadow Of 9/11 Is Rated TV-MA For LanguageĪs was the case with Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist and other Netflix documentaries in 2022, The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 is rated TV-MA for language. Like the FBI interviews, these segments also shed light on the situation and how it changed their lives more than 20 years ago. post office that became the epicenter of the attacks. On top of that, there are interviews with several of the postal workers who worked at the Washington, D.C. Bruce Ivins are followed up with interviews with the FBI investigators who handled the case all those years ago. ![]() Some of the scenes featuring Clark Gregg’s portrayal of Dr. The Documentary Also Features Interviews With FBI Investigators And Victims Of The Anthrax Attacks Some of these segments are based on FBI transcripts while others play out like brief monologues between sections of the documentary. Bruce Ivins, a microbiologist and biodefense researcher who found himself at the center of the FBI’s extensive investigation. ![]() This time around, Clark Gregg, who played Agent Phil Coulson in numerous MCU movies, portrays Dr. Much like the 2020 documentary The Social Dilemma, The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 makes use of scripted portions with well-known actors. The documentary features multiple sections that dive into the potential suspects, why the feds thought they were responsible, and how those investigations affected the various scientists attached to the case. The Anthrax Attacks: In the Shadow of 9/11 doesn’t dedicate a lot of time to the lead-up to the mailing of the tainted letters or the actual attacks, but instead the years-long investigation by the FBI into who made the highly-refined substance in a lab and why they would use it to wreak havoc on the country. The Documentary Spends A Large Amount Of Time Focusing On The FBI’s Prime Suspects
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